Youth Best Practice Committee

Youth Best Practice Committee

Established in 2016, the Youth Best Practice Committee (YPBC) supports young leaders and systems around the nation with understanding the value of youth voice in systems-change work.

Mission

The Youth Best Practice Committee (YBPC) has a robust, culturally diverse membership, who represent lived experience across a spectrum of systems such as mental health, juvenile justice, child welfare, etc. Membership includes youth, young adults, and other professional partners currently working as advocates dedicated to the youth movement. YBPC members use their personal experiences and voices to define what quality youth driven partnerships look like, as well as key outcomes for individuals, organizations, and systems who serve youth and implement youth programming.

The YBPC advises the field on best practice approaches for engaging youth in systems transformation through meaningful planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of the programs that serve them. The YBPC develops best practice standards, resources, and products to help communities become youth-driven.

Subcommittees

The full YBPC meets quarterly, and monthly as subcommittees based on areas of interest.
Current subcommittees include:

Research and Evaluation

In-House Product Development

Examples of Products by the YBPC

The following resources are projects and publications the YBPC’s Research & Evaluation Subcommittee has actively contributed to over the past few years! 

  • Youth Voice Agency Level Assessment (YVAL) Development –  This paper describes the development and validation of the Youth/Young Adult Voice at the Agency Level (Y-VAL), an assessment of the extent to which agencies have implemented best practices for supporting meaningful participation. The Y-VAL is intended for research purposes, as well as to provide agencies with direct guidance about strengths and challenges regarding their efforts to promote youth/young adult voice.
    • Partner: Portland State University
    • Publication: Walker JS, Masselli BM, Blakeslee J, Baird C, Thorp K. Development and testing of an assessment of youth/young adult voice in agency-level advising and decision making. Children and Youth Services Review. 2018;94:598-605. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2018.08.040
  • Antipsychotic Treatment for Youth in Foster Care: Perspectives on Improving Youths’ Experiences in Providing Informed Consent – An epidemiological study of the use of antipsychotic medications with youth in foster care
    • Partners: Rutgers University, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
    • Publication: Simmel C, Bowden CF, Neese-Todd S, Hyde J, Crystal S. Antipsychotic Treatment for Youth in Foster Care: Perspectives on Improving Youths’ Experiences in Providing Informed Consent. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2021;91(2):258-270. DOI: 10.1037/ort0000532
  • National Evaluation of SAMHSA’s Children’s Mental Health Initiative – This Report to Congress provides the most up-to-date findings from the national evaluation of the 91 CMHI expansion and sustainability grantees funded between 2013 and 2017. 
    • Partner: Westat
    • Publication: The Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances Program. 2017 Report to Congress.
  • Training Needs of Peer and Non-Peer Transition Service Providers: Results of a National Survey – This survey investigated transition service providers’ ratings of the importance of competencies and skills, self-assessed need for training in these competencies and skills, their preferred training modalities, and obstacles to engaging in training. 
    • Partner: Portland State University
    • Publication: Jivanjee P, Grover L, Thorp K, Masselli B, Bergan J, Brennan EM. Training Needs of Peer and Non-Peer Transition Service Providers: Results of a National Survey. J Behav Health Serv Res. 2020;47(1):4-20. DOI: 10.1007/s11414-019-09667-3
  • The Ripple Effects Study – The purpose of this current paper is to provide a compilation of possible ripple effects associated with EBI implementation strategies in children’s mental health services, to be used for implementation planning, research, and quality improvement.  
    • Partner: University of Washington
    • Publication 1: Pullmann MD, Dorsey S, Duong MT, et al. Expect the unexpected: A qualitative study of the ripple effects of children’s mental health services implementation efforts. Implementation Research and Practice. 2022;3:26334895221120797. doi:10.1177/26334895221120797

Interested in the YBPC?

If you’d like to learn more about the Youth Best Practice Committee, membership opportunities, or how the YPBC can collaborate with your organization, get in contact with us today.

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